


Breathe Out

by hollyhock13



Series: Whumptober 2019 [17]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU, Detective Comics (Comics), Under the Red Hood
Genre: Asphyxiation, Buried Alive, Canonical Character Death, Claustrophobia, Gen, Major Character Undeath, Prompt: Muffled Screams, Resurrection, Traumatic Resurrection, Whumptober 2019
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-21
Updated: 2019-10-21
Packaged: 2020-12-27 08:54:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 609
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21116090
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hollyhock13/pseuds/hollyhock13
Summary: They took his breath away





	Breathe Out

**Author's Note:**

> Now torturing Jason, news at ten.
> 
> Thanks [@Ursapharoh15](%E2%80%9C) you’re the best!

Whumptober 2019—Day 18: Muffled Scream

He wakes up in the dark. Everything hurts, his head, his back, his arms and legs. He doesn’t remember much, just—

“Brooose?”

Speaking hurts. Maybe he screamed? He tries to turn and see where he might be, but his arms each hit a wall. He reaches up instead, but hits a wall again. He’s enclosed. Maybe a tunnel?

He tries the space above his head. There’s something there, too, but it’s softer than the other walls. But come to think of it, the other walls were also soft. What kind of tunnel has soft walls? If he can’t go head first, feet first will work.

...or not. The space beneath his feet is also enclosed. So not a tunnel; a crate or box of some kind.

He does his best to orient himself. He’s definitely resting on his back, so up is toward his chest.

He starts by trying to bang on the top of this trunk or whatever it is. They usually open on the top, right?

It doesn’t even budge. He does some quick math. If the crate is airtight, he’s probably got about five and a half hours before he suffocates. However, that’s assuming he hasn’t used quite a bit of air previously, and it’s going to get hard to breathe long before that point. He gives himself two hours to be on the safe side.

If Bruce is coming for Robin...he feels for his locator, but finds only the fine fabric of his society suit. He must have been taken as Jason, then. He’ll probably have to find his own way out, no way Bruce would pay a ransom for him.

Jason sighs and starts pounding on the top of this ridiculous cage and yells, “Hey! You got the wrong kid!”

He waits a few minutes, but there’s no response so he starts to get to work.

* * *

About an hour later if he’s done okay keeping track, he’s broken through the top of the crate only to be met by a trickling of...dirt? What the—did they  bury him?! These crooks are going to pay once he gets out of here. He spits the dirt out of his mouth and sighs. This is going to be worse than he thought.

* * *

He’s running out of air. It’s been hours since he woke up, and his brain is definitely going a little fuzzy. The only clear thought in his mind is  air . He’s been digging for hours! How deep...? He can barely move for all of the dirt he’s loosened from above him, and the dust is making it even harder to breathe. 

“Broose!” He screams again, for what seems like the thousandth time. He can hardly be sure what he’s calling for anymore.

No response. He doesn’t expect one. He has to keep going, but the idea of just...resting is growing more and more tempting. He blinks and the world goes dark.

* * *

When he wakes the next time there is still nothing to see, and only a little more to feel. His body is clamoring for air, and he claws at the dirt around him. If he were more coherent he wouldn’t bother wasting air on sounds, but everything is fuzzy including his reasoning, so he screams for Bruce again and again.

* * *

His hand breaks through the surface. It stops his scream short. He scrabbles at the rocky dirt until the hole is big enough to push himself through. There he lies on the ground, just enjoying the expanse of the world around him. He groans, “Broose,” one last time before he falls into a nightmarish sleep. 

**Author's Note:**

> It has come to my attention that it may appear that Jason was resurrected just to die again and this is not the case!! He’s supposed to be unconscious, but he’ll be gone long before Bruce realizes he’s there.


End file.
